Contemporary Issues

Contemporary violations of the rights of uprooted children

  • Afghan child in Fylakio Centre Near the Greek-Turkish Border, Greece, February 2020

    Unaccompanied Minor Refugees

    An “unaccompanied child” is a child separated from both their parents and other relatives who is not being cared for by any other adult who, by law or custom, is responsible for doing so.

  • The Plight of Refugee Children

    The Plight of Refugee Children Trying to Reach Europe

    “The Central Mediterranean from North Africa to Europe is among the world’s deadliest and most dangerous migrant routes for children and women,” said Afshan Khan, UNICEF Regional Director and Special Coordinator for the Refugee and Migrant Crisis in Europe. “The route is mostly controlled by smugglers, traffickers and other people seeking to prey upon desperate children and women who are simply seeking refuge or a better life. We need safe and legal pathways and safeguards to protect migrating children that keep them safe and keep predators at bay.”

  • President Obama and VP Joe Biden meet with DREAMers on May 21, 2013 (Official White House photo by Pete Souza)

    Dreamers (USA)

    In 2012, after the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act failed several times to pass Congress, President Obama issued the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA) executive order which established a programme to protect young undocumented immigrants, many of whom had arrived in the United States illegally, from deportation.

  • Roma children in a slum in Jarovnice, eastern Slovakia. Credit: Sorin Furcoi / Al Jazeera

    present-day Europe

    Discrimination against Roma children

    The Roma are Europe’s largest ethnic minority, with an estimated 10 to 12 million Roma living in Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Ireland, Spain and other EU countries.

  • Danyk Rak, 12, holds a cat standing on the debris of his house destroyed by Russian forces’ shelling in the outskirts of Chernihiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, April 13, 2022. After the shelling, Danyk’s mother, Liudmila Koval, had to have her leg amputated and was injured in her abdominal cavity. She is still waiting for proper medical treatment. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

    Ukrainian Children facing Illegal Adoption in Russia

    Over the course of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused the occupiers of violating the norms of international law, including forcing the displacement of Ukrainian citizens, such as children.

  • Christoph Schwarz from the Geraubte Kinder – Vergessene Opfer association demonstrating in front of the German Bundestag in Berlin

    modern-day Germany

    Struggle for the Recognition of Stolen Children as Victims of Nazi Policy

    Even today, the “stolen children” are fighting for their recognition as victims of Nazi Policy in Germany.